Internet penetration
CNNIC · Dec 2025
Technology, digitalisation and innovation · connectivity
Internet penetration
China’s domestic CNNIC series and the World Bank WDI/ITU international series are kept separate. The domestic headline answers the official China-statistics question; WDI/ITU supports like-for-like international comparison.
Internet users
1.125
billion people · Dec 2025
Rural internet penetration
69.5%
Dec 2025
Internet use among people aged 60+
53.7%
Dec 2025
Source boundary
Why are there both 80.1% and 91.6% for China in 2025?
The 80.1% figure is the domestic official CNNIC internet-penetration rate. The 91.6% figure is the World Bank WDI/ITU internationally harmonised share of people using the Internet. Survey frames, definitions, estimation and harmonisation differ. The two series are stored and plotted separately, never spliced or treated as revisions of one another.
80.1%CNNIC · 2025-12
91.6%WDI/ITU · 2025
Official China observation periods
CNNIC internet penetration, Dec 2017 to Dec 2025
The x-axis preserves CNNIC’s actual observation periods. There is no fabricated 2019 point, and the March 2020 value is not relabelled as a 2019 year-end observation.
Source: CNNIC statistical reports ↗ · Actual observation months retained; no annualisation, interpolation or splicing with WDI/ITUchinainfigures.com
Exact data
Official CNNIC observations
| Observation period | Internet penetration | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 12/2017 | 55.8% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2018 | 59.6% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2020 | 70.4% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 06/2021 | 71.6% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2021 | 73.0% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 06/2022 | 74.4% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2022 | 75.6% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 06/2023 | 76.4% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2023 | 77.5% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 06/2024 | 78.0% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2024 | 78.6% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 06/2025 | 79.7% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
| 12/2025 | 80.1% | China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ |
Internationally comparable long-run trend
WDI/ITU: Internet use in China and the world
This chart uses only the internationally harmonised IT.NET.USER.ZS series. Missing WDI years remain missing and are never filled with CNNIC values.
Source: World Bank WDI / ITU ↗ · IT.NET.USER.ZS; upstream ITU; separate from the domestic CNNIC serieschinainfigures.com
Same-year international comparison
Internet use across eight economies/world aggregate in 2024
2024 is the latest year in which all eight selected entities have a published WDI/ITU observation, making this a genuine same-year comparison.
Source: World Bank WDI / ITU ↗ · Every bar uses the same 2024 indicator and the same WDI/ITU source systemchinainfigures.com
Exact same-year values
WDI/ITU international comparison, 2024
| Economy / aggregate | Share | Reference year |
|---|---|---|
| Korea, Rep. | 97.9% | 2024 |
| United States | 94.7% | 2024 |
| Germany | 93.5% | 2024 |
| China | 92.0% | 2024 |
| Japan | 85.5% | 2024 |
| Viet Nam | 84.2% | 2024 |
| World | 71.2% | 2024 |
| India | 64.9% | 2024 |
Definition
Internet penetration is not a subscription rate
It describes the share of people who use the Internet, not SIM cards, fixed-broadband subscriptions, devices or connections. One person can hold multiple subscriptions.
Observation periods
Observation months cannot be silently erased
CNNIC includes mid-year and irregular observation periods. A June observation is not silently converted into a calendar-year-end value.
International comparison
WDI/ITU is compared with itself
All cross-country comparisons use IT.NET.USER.ZS. CNNIC is reserved for China’s domestic official headline and its own historical trend.
Downloads and revisions
Use the data and track changes
The page CSV retains years, units, source IDs, verification status and comparability warnings. Each chart also offers its current data as CSV, PNG or SVG.
Page data
Download full CSV
Includes registered formal points, available historical series and scalar derived metrics. UTF-8 encoded for spreadsheets and analysis tools.
Download CSV ↓Data file updated: 8 Aug 2026
Citation
Copy a traceable citation
The title, latest formal data year and source organizations come from existing publication metadata; the access date and current page URL are added when you click.
Copy uses the URL currently open in your browser.
Public record
Revision and update timeline
Internet penetration indicator added
Added CNNIC official internet-penetration observations through December 2025 and a separate WDI/ITU international comparison for eight economies/world aggregate.
Related sources: China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ · China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) ↗ · World Bank ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Data downloads and revision timeline added
Added page-level formal-data CSV files, chart-level CSV/PNG/SVG exports and a bilingual revision timeline to all indicator pages.
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed